How can your coach BURN !

[bumpersbird]

Add this to the list

http://www.cvsa.org/publications/guardia...lement.pdf

Kurt Horvath
95 PT 42
10AC

[Pete Masterson]

I downloaded and quickly read through the document. Very good discussion of potential causes of fires in motorcoaches -- of course, it doesn't discuss all the 'home' stuff inside an RV that are also potential sources of fires, but it does a great job addressing the kinds of things that my have played a role in the several recent 'bird fires.

One small nit pick -- in the discussion of alternators, it talks of the (typical) 275 amp alternators and states "this is as many amps as in a home" -- which is not quite right. The 12 vdc 275 amps is not quite 30 amps at 110 volts AC used in homes. Average sized home generally have 200 amp service connections. So, while 30 amps (at 110 vac) is a good jolt its still not quite what a typical home has. It's a common error to 'forget' that amps are usually expressed in terms of a particular voltage.

For the technically inclined, Amperer's force law does express its definition without reference to the quantity of electric charge. See Wikipedia:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampere>

But in practical terms, "amps", indicating the magnitude of a current, is usually expressed in terms of volts and watts using the approximation: Amps x Volts = Watts. This can be restated to determine the potential amps at any particular voltage or to determine the amount of amps drawn for any particular watt usage at a particular voltage.

Pete Masterson

(former) '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42

El Sobrante CA

"aeonix1@mac.com"

On Dec 1, 2009, at 7:50 AM, bumpersbird wrote:

Add this to the list

http://www.cvsa.org/publications/guardia...lement.pdf

Kurt Horvath
95 PT 42
10AC

[Don Bradner]

They don't provide the details to know for sure, but in this application the
alternators may put out the equivalent of 60 amps at 110V

The last Wanderlodges produced had alternators that had maximum output
equivalent to 109 amps at 110V

Don Bradner
90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
My location: http://www.bbirdmaps.com/user2.cfm?user=1


On 12/1/2009 at 10:48 AM Pete Masterson wrote:

>I downloaded and quickly read through the document. Very good
>discussion of potential causes of fires in motorcoaches -- of course,
>it doesn't discuss all the 'home' stuff inside an RV that are also
>potential sources of fires, but it does a great job addressing the
>kinds of things that my have played a role in the several recent 'bird
>fires.
>
>One small nit pick -- in the discussion of alternators, it talks of
>the (typical) 275 amp alternators and states "this is as many amps as
>in a home" -- which is not quite right. The 12 vdc 275 amps is not
>quite 30 amps at 110 volts AC used in homes. Average sized home
>generally have 200 amp service connections. So, while 30 amps (at 110
>vac) is a good jolt its still not quite what a typical home has. It's
>a common error to 'forget' that amps are usually expressed in terms of
>a particular voltage.
>
>For the technically inclined, Amperer's force law does express its
>definition without reference to the quantity of electric charge. See
>Wikipedia:
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampere>
>
> But in practical terms, "amps", indicating the magnitude of a
>current, is usually expressed in terms of volts and watts using the
>approximation: Amps x Volts = Watts. This can be restated to determine
>the potential amps at any particular voltage or to determine the
>amount of amps drawn for any particular watt usage at a particular
>voltage.
>
>Pete Masterson
>(former) '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
>El Sobrante CA
>aeonix1@...
>
>
>
>
>On Dec 1, 2009, at 7:50 AM, bumpersbird wrote:
>
>> Add this to the list
>>
>> http://www.cvsa.org/publications/guardia...lement.pdf
>>
>> Kurt Horvath
>> 95 PT 42
>> 10AC